Leo, Nico, and The Quest to Raid the Fridge
by Willowleaf the Jedi
Summary: A oneshot in which Leo and Nico are midnight snack buddies. Takes place in HoH, a bit after the dwarf situation. Based on a headcanon of mine that Nico is a midnight snacker. This is a Lico fic!


**Hi! Hola! Wassup! (Insert other ways to say hello here)**

 **It is me, Willowleaf the Jedi! How's it hanging?**

 **Well, here's a oneshot that came into my head and that I wanted to do. It's a Lico!**

 **I honestly love the idea of Leo x Nico. Sure, I think I'd take Solangelo any day, but I just can't help myself from shipping the adorable Ghost King with Leo too! So, this weird oneshot was born. It's based on my headcanon that Nico is a total midnight snacker. Seriously, am I the only one who can see that?**

 **Well, here it is! Shout out to my classmate, best friend, band mate, and partner in crime (although I have two of all those listed... Yup, us three, we're tighter than Shun Kazami's jeans)(That was a Bakugan Battle Brawlers New Vestroia reference)... Dawnlight25!**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 _It's like I'm tumbling through a completely black void, falling endlessly in a murky pit of nothingness. The horrifying sensation I feel is familiar: It's how I felt when tumbling through Tartarus._

 _I feel sick and nauseous. Walking a few steps is a dizzying feat. Suddenly I'm standing near Nyx's mansion, psyching myself up to make the endearingly large jump._

 _I made it before. I could do it again._

 _But I didn't. I was falling – falling into chaos._

 _The darkness was closing in. Fear wrapped around me like a blanket – one that twisted around my neck and choked me. My skin withers, turning gray. My teeth begin to chatter. I try screaming, but no sound comes out. I'm turning into a skeleton._

 _"_ _Be gone, Son of Hades." A voice booms._

* * *

I woke up, trying not to scream.

I was breathing and sweating heavily. My head ached. My throat burned, as if I'd been screaming – or drinking the water from the River of Fire. Tartarus had made quite the mess of me. I could only imagine how Percy and Annabeth were doing down there. That made my eyes sting with tears, which I hastily wiped away.

"Easy, Nico. You're on the Argo ll right now." I chided myself, but my mind was racing at a million miles a minute. The nightmares seemed to be getting worse by the night, as if they were waiting for a chance to worm their way into reality. The thought made my stomach feel queasy. If I was wearing my skull ring right now, I might have accidentally twisted it – and maybe even twisted my finger.

I tried thinking of anything that made me happy – or did. Bianca. Hazel. Percy. The list seemed to end there.

I wiped my forehead with my arm, got up, and stretched. Moonlight reflected off a mirror hanging on the wall of my cabin, and I examined myself warily. My bare chest was, in fact, very sweaty. And not to mention pale. My eyes looked like they were slowly sinking into their sockets, reminding me of a zombie.

My hair was messy. I could pass for a skeleton – which was a thought that didn't quite settle well with me. I quickly tried flattening it, making it look at least a little presentable.

More importantly: I was starving.

My stomach growled. Even though I had been on this ship long enough to feel comfortable, it was awkward trying to adjust my eating habits. Going from one pomegranate a day to endless junk food for life didn't exactly seem healthy.

And did I mention how awkward it is eating when people, around your age, contemplate how to save the world?

I mean it's one thing to watch Leo as he practically inhaled Fonzies. But it was another to watch him _do that_ while talking about the Doors of Death, the world ending in a couple of days, and Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus.

So, secretly (and I mean secretly), every few nights, I'd sneak into the mess hall, grab a snack, then go back to bed. I had started doing this to escape from the nightmares, but my belly was hungry. Soon, it was to escape the nightmares, _AND_ eat.

Don't judge me. We all have our midnight snacks.

Tonight was no exception. Leo Valdez had started making extra tacos and storing them in a little mini fridge in a corner of the mess hall, and I wasn't about to let them go to waste.

Such are the thoughts of a boy who went through near insanity.

I hastily put on a black Led Zeppelin shirt, and then crept out of my cabin. _Jason, Piper, and Hazel are on deck_ , I thought. _Don't have to worry about them. Leo and Frank are probably snoring like the sleepy boys they are… and Percy and Annabeth… they're in Tartarus._ I cringed.

Once I had managed to sneak past all the cabins I reached my destination: the mess hall.

 _Tacos, think of the tacos._

Sure, I would have settled for one of those ironic Happy Meals, but Leo's tacos seemed to be the best option here. But when – if – we get back to New York, I was so getting Jules Albert to drive me to the nearest McDonald's.

The door squeaked open, and I jumped. Sound was always odd when you heard it in the middle of an eerily calm night. I quickly shrugged off my jitters as best as I could and ducked in through the doorway. Then I switched on the lights.

I have to say, Leo's craftsmanship always surprises me. The boy is about as hyper and annoying as Percy Jackson – maybe even more – but he's also very stubborn and determined. Building something as beautiful as the Argo ll wasn't a walk in the park; it required a lot from him. But it seemed so worth it.

The mess hall was quite impressive. One wall in particular had murals showing Camp Half-Blood. Sure, every once in a while, I'd look at it and suddenly feel homesick, but I didn't mind too much. I was used to feeling homesick.

And Leo's tacos – Gods of Olympus, his tacos! They were like food for the gods. No, screw that; the gods could get their own food.

I trudged sleepily towards the fridge across the room.

Without hesitation, I wrenched it open. The ship was surprisingly calm tonight so I didn't have to worry about it falling on me like when the silverware and the Kerkopes happened. That hurt. But, because of that, Hazel requested Leo to super glue the fridge to the floor. She even said the same for the table, but Leo argued against that (something about him one day giving it animation magic? Not completely sure).

 _Tacos, Nico,_ I chided myself. _Right. Tacos. You're on a quest to raid the fridge and take the tacos._

I searched the fridge, not surprised to find the platter of tacos underneath a large stash of Fonzies. Last I remembered, Fonzies didn't need to be kept in a fridge. But if that's what Leo did, then I guess I didn't really need to judge. I didn't eat the stuff anyways.

I grabbed the platter and quickly plopped it down onto the table. I pulled myself up onto the table (because why not), grabbed a taco, and took a bite. Oh _gods_ … the flavours, and the toppings, and all the-

"What the actual _Hades_ dude?!"

I yelped and instinctively threw the taco at the source of the voice. Sadly, it hit the target square in the face before I realized who it was. "Wait… Leo?"

Said Latino was standing in the doorway, still wearing his day clothes – a greasy shirt and grubby jeans, with his suspenders and tool belt. He was probably frowning underneath all the _taco_ on his face.

I froze. This probably looked really bad. A fourteen year old boy sitting on a table in nothing but a shirt and boxers; in the middle of the night; eating tacos that weren't supposed to be eaten. My face heated up. I was ready to shadow travel right then and there.

Leo didn't say anything. I didn't say anything. After a while he spoke. "Yeesh, di Angelo… I didn't exactly see you as a midnight snacker."

My face burned. What was I supposed to say? _I've developed an obsession with your tacos. They're ten times better than Fonzies. They're almost as delicious as you look…_

Wait, where did that last one come from? It only made my face burn even more. Sometimes, I hated my pale skin. It made it easy for people to see me blushing. Luckily, I had long bangs, so I didn't have to look them in the eyes all the time.

Leo grabbed a rag from his tool belt and wiped his face, eyebrows raised. "Dude, I caught you in the act, like, ten minutes ago. Are you going to say something?"

"… there's still a lot of salsa on your face… and sorry for throwing that taco." I mumbled. I stumbled off of the table and stayed behind it, not wanting him to see me without any pants on. Gods, this night was just getting worse…

Leo continued trying to rub the salsa on his face. I wanted to scream at him to go and find a washroom, not stay in the doorway, my only exit, so I could kill myself. But no, the aggravating Latino just stood in the doorway.

"So…" he started talking. He actually started talking! The _nerve_ of that boy! "You like tacos?"

I clenched my fists and glared. "Why are you asking?" I tried to add a slight snarl, but Leo laughed.

"Well, I might be asking because I caught you eating tacos." He laughed a little bit more. "I know you're trying to act brooding and scary, but, I just caught you eating Mexican food in your boxers. I can't take you seriously anymore."

I tried to glare at him, but my face was still bright red. I looked at the ground.

Then I heard a thump. I looked up. Leo was sitting where I had been sitting. "Well, funny thing, di Angelo, I came here myself for a midnight snack. Care to join me?"

"I'm in my boxers." I blurted, before mentally face-palming. What was wrong with me?

Leo threw his hands up in surrender. "I won't stare, dude. Wanna go back to your cabin, get some pants, come back and eat with me?"

I eyed him warily. Leo rolled his eyes, but covered them. "I'm not looking."

I slipped past the table and into the darkness of the ship corridor.

What motivated me to come back? The food. Totally the food. Totally not Leo Valdez.

Now we were in switched positions – Leo sitting on the table, me by the doorway – except Leo knew I was coming and wasn't in boxers.

Leo clapped sarcastically, smirking. "And so, the Son of Hades, returns – in actual pants, I might add – for the glory of Leo Valdez."

I scrunched my face up. "I'm doing it for the tacos."

"Yeah, right." I glared at him, but it quickly disappeared. Leo's curly hair bounced up and down as he chuckled. His chocolate brown eyes sparkled, but I could tell some of his happiness was faked.

Leo always reminded me of the Hermes kids at Camp Half-Blood – he had that same impish, immature nature around him. And not to mention his grin – he looked like the kind of person not to share food with. _But here I am…_

The Latino scooted over. I hopped up onto the table beside him slowly – leaving a couple inches of space, I might add.

We made eye-contact for a quick second, before looking back at the tacos. "So," he began. "Take your pick. I take mine. We eat. Then we…"

"Pretend this never happened?" I asked.

Leo shrugged. "Maybe just keep it to ourselves."

"Swear it on the Styx?"

Leo smirked. "You must feel really humiliated."

"I will summon skeletons to drag you into the pits of hell if you tell." I threatened.

Leo began humming and nonchalantly picked up a taco.

"You're unbelievable." I mumbled, but I grabbed a taco too and took an aggressive bite.

"Says the boy who sneaks into the mess hall in the middle of the night-"

"Shut it!"

Leo laughed. I scowled and took another aggressive bite.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "What's with the aggression? What did the taco ever do to you?"

That did it. I threw the taco at him.

* * *

The next night, as I lay in bed, I had trouble falling asleep. It was 1:00 am. I was starving. I wanted to go back to the mess hall and eat a taco. But what if Leo was there? Part of me didn't want to see Leo. When I had walked by the engine room in the daytime, Leo had waved and winked. My face wouldn't stop burning for a while.

By 2:00 am, something in my mind said, 'Screw it' and I went over to the mess hall – after putting on clothes.

Maybe if I kept the light off, I could shadow-travel out of the room before anyone saw me. I could take the tacos to my cabin too.

I crept towards the mess hall, making a mental list of who was on duty, and who wasn't. When I realized Frank and Leo were on duty, I mentally slapped myself. I had been worrying about Leo for nothing!

See kids? This is what taco-deprivation can do to you.

But still, I kept the light off as I entered the mess hall.

I blame what happens next on taco-deprivation. No stupidity whatsoever.

Someone had left a chair where I was walking. I tripped over it, because I couldn't see it. I yelped, but the damage had been done. It crashed to the floor with a loud thud.

Someone opened the door. A hand shot out to reach the lights and before I could even shadow-travel, Leo had turned the lights on. "Ha! I caught the taco thief!" he grinned triumphantly.

I groaned, because there really was nothing better to do. This boy was getting more aggravating every time I saw him. He rolled his eyes. "You're lucky, taco thief. I'm on guard duty, so I can't stay and chat. Just eat a taco, and I'll make sure Frank doesn't catch you."

I looked at him incredulously. "What – seriously?" I spluttered.

Leo smirked. "Yes. But, I wanna have tacos with you tomorrow night. We can be taco thief buddies."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I'll tell Frank."

"Go to Tartarus."

"I'm halfway there." He laughed and took off.

I clenched my fists, grabbed a taco, and began eating it aggressively.

* * *

"Stop with the act, di Angelo. We all know you're an adorable ball of fluff underneath that stone cold exterior." Leo teased.

"I've thrown a taco at you twice before, and I'm not afraid to do it again." I mumbled.

"I can burn you."

"I can shadow-travel you into the Underworld."

"… I cannot burn."

I face-palmed. "That definitely deserves an award."

Leo smirked. "See? I can bring out the jokes in you."

"Why are you not afraid of me? I can summon skeletons and choke you in darkness; and my sword-"

"Would I be scared of someone I share tacos with?"

I growled and bit into my taco. "Touché."

"Ha!"

In my mind, I gave him the finger.

"So, what's with you and aggressively eating tacos?" Leo asked.

"It's addicting." Was all I said.

Leo raised an eyebrow and stared at his food. "It is?"

"Very," I nodded solemnly. "You should try it."

The Latino shrugged before trying to take an aggressive bite. I laughed before I could stop myself.

Leo's eyes widened. "Oh my gods. You laughed!"

"You should have seen yourself. That was golden." I said awkwardly, taking a bite of my taco.

"Then should I do it like this?" he tried taking another aggressive bite.

By the end of the night, I was practically howling with laughter.

* * *

The next night went somewhat similar than the last. Leo was already sitting on the table, eating a taco, smiling.

"Hey, taco thief. Wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, right."

I casually hopped onto the table beside him. Only the taco platter was in-between us. "Did you know that twenty one pilots wrote a song about tacos?" Leo asked eagerly. "It could be our theme song." He began humming.

"Twenty one pilots? Who are they?"

Leo's jaw dropped. "How can you not-" he stopped himself. "Right. Different times."

I nodded quickly, hoping that he'd get that I didn't want to touch on the subject. Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled something out – something I could only assume was an iPod. "Uh… is that an… iPod?"

Leo nodded absent-mindedly. "Yeah. I'll show you the song."

"But doesn't technology, like, make it easier for monsters to sense us?" I questioned. The last thing I'd want was for a legion of monsters to attack the ship. What if they'd steal our tacos?

Leo raised his eyebrows, still looking at the screen. "Monster proof." Was all he said. I shrugged it off. Leo was a son of Hephaestus. He knew how to work technology.

Said Latino handed me the iPod with a grin, and I was met with a weird – and I mean, really weird – song. I mean, what was this? Nobody makes six minute long songs. Right?

Leo must have seen the odd look on my face when the song finished, because he smirked. "So, you like it?"

"Your taste in music scares me."

He smirked. "So, little Nico the Angel is scared? Of _moi_?"

I crossed my arms. "Why did I even come down here?" I said in exasperation.

"Why, you missed me of course!" Leo cried.

I shoved him. "Can we just eat our tacos in peace?" Seriously, I was starving. "Wanna have a contest to see who can eat their taco more aggressively? Will that get you to shut up and eat a taco?"

Leo shoved me playfully. "You're gonna win. So… no."

I smirked. "Ah, so you're accepting your defeat? Of course, it was meant to happen sooner or later."

Leo clucked his tongue. "Oh I'm gonna get you for that."

"Are you?" I taunted.

Leo broke off a piece of his taco's shell and threw it at my face. It bounced harmlessly off my nose.

"Oh, you're scaring me." I deadpanned.

Leo scowled and bit into his food.

I had to restrain myself from jumping up when I said: "Dude, you got it! You got the aggressive biting!"

"I did?" Leo's eyes were wide.

"You just did it!"

Leo pumped his fists – forgetting he was holding a taco. I got salsa and other taco toppings all over me. "Leo!" I whined.

Leo blushed. "Sorry, di Angelo."

I threw my taco at his face. Leo threw his at mine. I blinked at him incredulously. He smirked, but the look in his eyes told me he was on edge.

We both grabbed for a taco.

And we threw.

Food fights in the middle of the night were a lot of fun.

In the mess hall the next morning, Leo and I looked the sleepiest.

"Nico!" Hazel had rushed over and was cooing over me like a mother-hen. "What were you doing last night?"

Jason smirked and folded his arms as if he knew something. "Yeah. Leo, you look sleepy too. Last I remember, you guys weren't on guard duty last night…"

All eyes were on us. Hazel was fanning her face. I gulped and looked at Leo. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Piper was the first to break the silence. "Man, Percy and Annabeth will freak when they find out you two are dating!"

The matching horrendous looks on our faces was enough to break the silence. Everyone laughed.

Jason held his hands up. "Don't worry. We won't tell Hedge."

"Oh – gods – guys, that isn't what we were doing-" Leo spluttered.

"Yeah, we – were – just – eating tacos!" I added, face flushed.

Jason smirked. "Yeah right."

Oh gods.

Why did I _ever_ start midnight snacking?

* * *

 **Yay? Did you like it? Was it good enough? On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate it? Tell me in reviews!**

 **And... question time! Do any of you guys like Bakugan? Because, I dunno, I wanna start a 'Bring back Lync Volan and give him to Alice' club. His ending was so unfair~! (oh, and yes. I ship Lync and Alice. But I also ship Shun and Alice. But I also ship Shun with myself...)**

 **Yeah, well, you don't need to hear me rant about Bakugan. I save that for my friends. Well, peace! Thanks for reading!**


End file.
